Baby Food in Pasta Dough??

Such a clever idea! The baby food I used is just a simple 100% vegetable puree and think of all the flavors you can test out! All credit for this one goes to Laura Weathers, KitchenAid Lady on Q! You could probably "sneak" veggies into lots of recipes this way...hmm...

Directions:In 2-cup liquid measuring cup, whisk together eggs, baby food and water.Combine 2 1/2 cups flour and salt in bowl of stand mixer with dough hook attached. Turn mixer to speed 1 to mix flour and salt. With mixer running slowly drizzle in egg mixture. Add more flour if mixture is too wet. Shift to speed 2 and allow to mix/knead for a few minutes until a shaggy mixture forms and it starts to hold together. If needed, drizzle in another 1-2 tablespoons water, half tablespoons at a time. Dough should be somewhat dry, but able to be pressed into a ball. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and allow to rest for 30 minutes before rolling.

Note: Start with the lowest amount of flour and add more as needed. The dough should mostly pull together into a rough ball. There may be some dry bits left in the bottom of the bowl, this is normal. Pasta dough should be fairly dry as it will continue to hydrate as it rests. Humidity and amount of moisture in other ingredients can affect the amount of flour needed.

"Fennel - Olive - Feta - Frittata" - Say that 5 times fast! ( :

I haven't made a frittata in a while, but I was making a fennel and apple salad the other day and the fennel reminded me of a yummy frittata I had made a few years back.

Do you like fennel? I didn't think I would like it at first, but it is delicious! When raw it's crunchy, sweet and has a mild licorice taste. When cooked it loses some of the licorice taste. Fennel's growing season is fall through early spring - so it's a great time to eat some fennel while still in season!!

This frittata cooks up quickly and makes for an easy weeknight supper or…would be perfect for a brunch...Mother's Day perhaps (hint, hint, wink, wink to my family!) I love to serve the frittata with a simple arugula salad. The peppery, bitterness of the arugula pairs really well with the rich taste of the frittata and the sweetness from the onions and fennel. YUM!

Fennel, Olive and Feta Frittata, Step-by-Step Photos:

Cut the stalks and the fronds from the bulb. Reserve the fronds for the dressing

Quarter the bulb and cut out the core

Thinly slice the bulb

Gather the olives, parsley and feta

Whisk the egg mixture

Saute the onions and fennel

Give the pan a quick spray with non-stick cooking spray before pouring in the eggs

Add the olives, parsley and feta to the egg mixture then pour into the pan

Lightly spray edges of skillet with non-stick cooking spray. Pour egg mixture over the onions and fennel in hot skillet. Cook stirring slowly for about 1 minute or until the eggs begin to set around the edge of the skillet. Sprinkle the remaining Parmesan over the egg mixture and transfer skillet to preheated oven. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until the center is just set.

While frittata is cooking make dressing: shake in a small jar or whisk together vinegar, salt, pepper, fennel fronds and 3 tablespoons olive oil. Set aside.

When frittata is done, remove from oven and allow to rest for about 5 minutes. In large bowl, dress the arugula with the dressing. Cut frittata into 6 or 8 wedges and serve topped with arugula salad.

Sweet, Tart & Fruity - Sound like anyone you know??

I had the best strawberry lemonade at a family birthday party last weekend! We were celebrating my daughter and my niece both turning 13 this spring! The lemonade was sweet and tart and fruity - kind of like thirteen year old girls - hehe! (Love u girls!) Well anyway, Stacy, my cousin-in-law makes the most awesome strawberry lemonade!! Seriously - I've been thinking about it a lot - so much so, that this idea popped into my brain - Strawberry Lemonade Brownies!

I thought I'd start with my Lemon Brownie recipe from two years ago and go from there. I wanted to add fresh strawberries, but thought they would be too wet in the brownie, so I chopped them and gave them a quick roast in the oven while I made the rest of the recipe. The roasting concentrated the strawberry flavor and helped release some of the excess moisture in the berries. I also crushed up a bag of freeze dried strawberries and mixed them in with the dry ingredients - double strawberry goodness! The batter was the most gorgeous pink! I couldn't wait to see the color of the baked brownie!

I cut into the baked brownies and they were - beige - what?? What happened to the gorgeous pink?? ) : They tasted great, but I really wanted them to look a little pink. So, back to the drawing board I went - I spoke to one of the nice bakers at Whole Foods about using beets to make it pink and she thought the beet flavor would overpower the strawberry and lemon flavors, so she sold me some of her natural red food coloring and I decided to try some old school McCormick's red food coloring as well. The results all tasted the same - but if you want some pinkish color, you're going to want to add some coloring. The glaze on top gets its color from a little of the powdered freeze dried strawberries - it seems the color holds up well when it's not subjected to heat.

Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper or spray with non-stick cooking spray. Toss chopped fresh strawberries with 1 tablespoon sugar and spread on baking sheet. Roast for 20 minutes. Remove from oven and cool. Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees F.

Prepare 13 x 9 x 2 inch pan: Spray with nonstick baking spray and if desired, line with a double layer of foil or parchment paper cut to fit and extended past top of pan – fold over edge of pan. Spray the foil/parchment with additional non-stick spray (This will allow you to remove the brownies from the pan when cool for easy cutting.)

In large bowl, cream together butter and sugar with mixer. Add eggs one at a time and mix until just incorporated. Add 1 1/2 teaspoons lemon zest, 2 tablespoons lemon juice, lemon extract and food coloring. Stir the flour and salt together in a small bowl and add to wet ingredients along with the crushed freeze dried strawberries (reserve 1 tablespoon for glaze.) Mix until just incorporated. Stir in white chocolate chips and the roasted berries. Pour into prepared pan and bake for 25-35 minutes (time may vary based on your oven) or until a toothpick comes out clean.

epicuricloud

Welcome to epicuricloud! I hope you'll spend some time in the cloud with me! I'll be posting creative recipes, stories of my cooking contest adventures and writing about the backstory of recipes: the Recipe Roots™.